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Victorian Child Health and Wellbeing Survey 2023
Research Areas
Health +
Wellbeing
Project Status
The Victorian Department of Education has contracted the Social Research Centre to conduct the 2023 Victorian Child Health and Wellbeing Survey (VCHWS), from June to August 2023, on their behalf. VCHWS is important research into the health and wellbeing of Victorian children up to and including 12 years of age and collects valuable information about the health and wellbeing of children living in Victoria.
Partner
This research is being conducted for Victorian Department of Education by the Social Research Centre.
Aims + Outcomes
Help improve the delivery and quality of services and initiatives for children living in your local area.
Methods
To assist in this research Victorian households will be randomly selected and invited to participate in a telephone interview to answer a number of health-related questions about your child’s and family’s health, including your own general and mental health.
The Department is also conducting a short survey with parents and carers of children aged 13 to 18 years about their opinions of the Victorian school system.
Insight
96%
Children belong in inclusive and liveable communities, with a short term increase from 92.4% in 2017 up to 96% in 2021 reported living in a safe neighbourhood at the time.
21.2%
Children are physically healthier. In 2021 21.2% of children under 12 drank a sweet beverage every day, which is down since 2013 at 28.8%. This decrease has also seen a drop in children with an oral filling from 19.5% in 2013 to 16.7% in 2021.
3.4%
Children’s material needs are being met with a decline in food insecurity at 3.4% in 2021 (from 4.9% in 2013) and financial insecurity experiences down to 7.8% in 2021 (from 12.3% in 2013).
For each survey, data are collected from a sample of parents of approximately 5,000 Victorian children aged 12 years and under via telephone interview. Data are weighted against population benchmarks to provide representative state estimates.
© State of Victoria (Department of Education and Training) 2023
Impact
ABC
Who is hiring for those with disabilities?
ABC
Who is hiring for those with disabilities?
ABC
Who is hiring for those with disabilities?
Reports
Healthy development in childhood lays the foundations and sets the trajectories for children’s ongoing physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development.
© State of Victoria (Department of Education and Training) 2023
Healthy development in childhood lays the foundations and sets the trajectories for children’s ongoing physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development.
© State of Victoria (Department of Education and Training) 2023
Have you been contacted to participate?
Who participates?
To assist in this research Victorian households will be randomly selected and invited to participate in a telephone interview to answer a number of health-related questions about your child’s and family’s health, including your own general and mental health.
The Department is also conducting a short survey with parents and carers of children aged 13 to 18 years about their opinions of the Victorian school system.
The Social Research Centre may contact you by:
- Calling you from 03 9492 6241 or 03 9492 6240 to invite adults aged 18 years and over to participate in a telephone interview, or
- Sending a text message from 0481 075 597 to invite you to participate in this study.
You do not have to answer any question if you feel uncomfortable doing so. The interview will take approximately twenty minutes and arrangements can be made for your participation at a convenient time.
What are the benefits?
The information collected in this study will be used by the Department of Education and other government planners to improve the delivery and quality of services and initiatives for children living in your local area. Some findings from the survey will be published online, including in the annual State of Victoria’s Children reports (an outcomes-focused analysis on how Victorian Children and Young People are faring), that will be available to the public on the Department of Education’s website once released.
How does it work?
Your participation is entirely voluntary. However, in order for us to collect accurate information, it is important that as many families as possible participate in this study. Please be assured that all information is treated in strict confidence. Your personal details will be deleted at the end of the interview and will not be passed onto any other agency. The information you provide will be used for planning purposes only. Further information on the survey can be found at the Department’s website by clicking here.
How do we ensure privacy is protected?
The Social Research Centre complies with the Australian Privacy Principles. All personal contact information such as name, email and phone number is removed from the final data. Your responses will be de-identified, held in the strictest confidence and will not be disclosed to other organisations for marketing or research purposes. The responses of everyone who participates in this survey will be combined for analysis. Please see the SRC’s Privacy Policy.
Get in touch
Queries about the study
If you have any queries about the study, or if you do not wish to be contacted by telephone, please call the study information line on 1800 023 040.
To organise a time to complete the survey at a time convenient to you, please call the SRC on 1800 023 040.
Thank you for your assistance, which will be extremely useful and help plan for the better delivery of services and initiatives for children and families in your local area.
FAQs
Who is the survey being undertaken for?
The Victorian Department of Education is undertaking the survey and has contracted the Social Research Centre to conduct the survey on their behalf. The Department implements Victorian Government policy on early childhood services, school education and training and higher education services.
Why is the survey being conducted?
The survey will provide information on the health and wellbeing of Victorian children and their families. The information will be used to improve the delivery and quality of services and initiatives for children living in your local area.
How is the information I provide used?
The information collected is de-identified (names and other identifying information is removed). The responses are analysed and reported at statewide level level (previous results can be viewed at www.vic.gov.au/victorian-child-health-and-wellbeing-survey). The responses inform the monitoring of health and wellbeing outcomes for children, and improvements to delivery and quality of services.
How did you get my number?
Mobile telephone numbers have been provided by a commercial list provider. We find calling mobile phones means a more representative selection of people complete the survey. These lists include telephone numbers listed in the White Pages along with lists from other parties such as charities, telemarketing companies and other business entities.
Is the survey compulsory?
The survey is entirely voluntary but your cooperation is important to ensure that all Victorian children are given the best start in life, which is a key priority of the Victorian Government. To do this effectively it is crucial to have access to timely information to enable productive and effective investment in services and initiatives for young children.
Is this a legitimate survey?
If you want to confirm the bona fides of this study, contact the Social Research Centre’s helpdesk on 1800 023 040. (Hours are 9am – 8.30pm Monday to Friday or 11am – 5pm Saturday/Sunday to speak to somebody).
I don’t have children – why are you contacting me?
Sorry to have disturbed you, we randomly generate telephone numbers as we find this is the best way to select households that represent Victorian families with young children, but sometimes this means that we do contact households that don’t have children.
General FAQs